This is the “part 3” of our Mediterranean cruise on board of Celebrity Equinox. If you want to read since the beginning of our journey, please click here.

We woke up early in the morning to enjoy the views of Santorini before dawn.

It is gorgeous to watch the dark rocks from the distance as they have the top covered in white. Looking from the distance, it looks like snow!

As the ship approached the island we were able to see that the snowy appearance was in fact the village, on the top of the cliff , as all the houses are painted in white. Gorgeous! 🙂

Arriving on Santorini Island

Santorini

Santorini topped in whites

The ship stays quite close to the shore and we were transported by tender. We were one of the first people to disembark!

How to get there:

There are basically three ways to reach the top (where Santorini Village is located):
By mule (the most famous and picturesque); by foot (not a smart idea as the floor gets slippery due to mule’s pee) and…. by gondola. We chose the gondola!

Gondola Entrance, Santorini

By gondola, going to the top

Easiest and fastest way to reach the top @ Santorini, Greece

When we arrived at the top almost all shops were still closed. As is was early, we could watch the mules being organized by their owners, to descent the mountain in order to pick up the tourists.

Santorini’s mules and… me

Charming cobblestone paths

We went walking by the charming paved ways and took many, many pictures. The views are absolutely astonishing!

From Santorini we took a public bus to Oia. Oia is a small village also located over a cliff, like Santorini. Oia is super charming, with many beautiful shops and sights.

The journey is a little bit scary because the road is narrow and it goes along the cliff. The bus driver goes fast and the bus was super crowded. All people on board were tourists from all over the world. We listened German, Japanese, French, English and many others. It is amazing how tourists are attracted by this jewel!
The bus fare is approximately 3 Euros each passenger (each way)

On the bus going to Oia

Oia is a jewel. It’s very scenic and we had a great time walking along the narrow paths with awesome views to the sea, many meters below.

This was funny! Looking like two pregnant women! 🙂

From Oia we took the bus back to Santorini. There are many charming stores there and we bought some jewelry. Most of the jewelry is made with silver.

Santorini

Santorini

Santorini, way down

After taking more pictures we took the cable car back down. I read it is good to be early on the way down because the line to get in the gondola is really big after 3pm (the ship was scheduled to depart at 5pm).

From the cable car we saw people going up using the “old fashioned way”: by mule! 🙂

In front of Santorini there is an island with a volcano. I took this picture of a picture that decorates the wall of the gondola room. Quite impressive to see this active volcano so close to the island!

At the pier, ready to get the tender

Beautiful views from the tender

Returning to the ship

Getting back to the vessel

Back to the ship, it was time to enjoy the sun!

Under the Greek Sun

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Great views and gorgeous weather

As usual on all cruises, the photographers take passengers’ pictures.

We didn’t buy any because they are expensive (more than USD 30.00 each). When we arrived at our cabin there was a picture of us showing on our TV (I guess they hopped we were going to the Gift Store to buy it hahaha).

Instead….. we took a picture of the picture! 🙂 Here we are!

Picture from the cabin’s TV

After dinner we went to the Casino. As usual, we didn’t gamble. Our visits to the Casino were only to take pictures in a colorful background! 🙂

At the Casino, enjoying the colorful background

Going to the Casino only to take pictures! LOL

The day ended with one of the best shows during our cruise: A illusionist performed a great show and his ability tricking numbers was amazing!

Great show: Tricking numbers

The cherry on top of the cake was this beautiful full moon over the Greek seas. What a day! 🙂

Please visit our gallery on Flick to see more pictures we took while visiting Santorini.